Ikta and the others have reached the front lines; they’re as close to the fighting as they can get. Caption Sazaluf shows them a map of their current fight plan, then combines all their platoons into one, making Ikta its commander.

Their first task is to burn the village of the Sinack they’re forcefully relocating. Afterwards their entire mega-platoon leaves along with the Sinack refugees, and they travel to a village in the west. En route Ikta and Suya discuss Lieutenant General Safida’s plan as displayed on the map, and Ikta is quick to point out its massive flaws. Even Captain Sazaluf appears to be none too happy with this game plan as he is trying to mitigate the damage it’s causing whenever he can.

Once they arrive Ikta’s company starts assigning homes to groups of families, which they are of course displeased with because these Sinack have lost their homes. A small child starts hitting Ikta, which he initially brushes off before flicking the kid on the nose and making him bleed. Naturally the child starts to cry, which causes Warrant Officer Deinkun to rush over and beat Ikta for hurting the kid. Deinkun even goes as far as to give himself a bloody nose in order to sympathize with the child and help him to stop crying.

Afterwards Suya vents her frustration with the situation at Ikta, who says Deinkun did the right thing. He comforts her as she cries.

Several days later and a few hundred feet higher in elevation, Ikta and the other troops receive a pep talk from Lieutenant General Safida as they prepare to head into the final stage of the battle.

Afterwards Yatori, Matthew and the others eat in the meal tent. Haro and Yatori leave to get cleaned up, with the guys remaining behind. Matthew decides to take this opportunity to not-so-discreetly ask Ikta how he handles his “needs” during a time of war.

And before I continue this review, I’d like to point out that this show is a groundbreaker (at least in my book) for not only having a modern, refreshing protagonist, but now also in some of the material it covers. We are watching a show about war, which is nothing special, but this scene has a secondary character bringing up the topic of masturbation. Like holy fuck. And it’s not being shamed or laughed at! Yay for modern shows which break stupid tropes and handle private topics with maturity!

So Ikta basically says there’s two types of guys: those who have a partner, and those who masturbate in solitude. Torway’s pegged pretty quickly as a solo guy, and when asked Ikta doesn’t give an answer, saying only that even if he did have a partner he wouldn’t be allowed to admit it because intercourse of any kind during wartime is prohibited. Matthew gets more fired up as the conversation progresses, drawing the attention of the troops around them and also of Captain Sazaluf. Ikta asks Captain Sazaluf which type he is and Sazaluf alludes to having had a partner at one time, but he’s not allowed to talk about it. Maybe it was another officer? Someone in royalty? Matthew tries to sneak away at the end of the conversation without answering his own question, but Ikta calls him on it. Matthew blurts out that he’s also a solo warrior, and the entire freaking meal tent stands and salutes him for masturbating, basically. *facepalm*

Their company leaves the next day, and things are initially pretty calm. Strategies are discussed and Ikta asks Captain Sazaluf if they can dismount their horses to carry shields to protect themselves. Lieutenant General Safida is not happy about this development and he scolds Captain Sazaluf, but Ikta’s idea quickly proves itself to be beneficial as the entire platoon is attacked on multiple sides by the Sinack.

The episode quickly descends into the typical chaos of battle. Lieutenant General Safida is the apparent target, singled out by a Sinack assassin group who call themselves Kala Karm. Yatori in turn is singled out by Nanaku Daru as she attempts to protect Safida, and the two face off against one another.

Meanwhile Ikta saves Haro from an attack from above, and they in turn are rescued by Warrant Officer Deinkun. As they guard each other’s backs, Ikta and Deinkun discuss the events at the village and what would damage Ikta’s honor; Ikta makes reference to Kanna’s death (unknown to Warrant Officer Deinkun, of course), but I wonder if his words are foreshadowing for Yatori’s safety as well.

Yatori eventually gets the upper hand on Nanaku Daru, and after she stabs the young girl’s hidden mechanical gun, the Sinack chieftain flees. Warrant Officer Deinkun steps in to protect Lieutenant General Safida from the Kala Karm in Yatori’s stead, but they are able to kill him. As Yatori goes into another bloodlust and attempts to kill Deinkun’s murderer, the remaining Sinack retreat.

Nanaku Daru makes her way back into the mountains heading towards her home, but upon reaching the peak which oversees her village, she is devastated to see that the entire community is on fire.

My thoughts: I’m sad to see this series nearing its end, but I’m hoping that we’ll be out of this battle arc by the end of the next episode. Battles and fighting have never interested me much, though I make excepts for shows like Berserk and Alderamin which handle it well.

I still can’t get over the masturbation discussion scene. It was funny, and I am always happy to see anime cover personal topics like sex in a mature manner. Ikta is now one of my favourite protagonists. ^_^v

2 Responses

Based on novel summaries I’ve seen, the anime will likely cover the 1st 2 books. Currently the books are ongoing with 10 volumes published.
The books are quite heavy on descriptions of battles and military strategies.